No punches are pulled in robust debate on the state of the nation

Sebastian James confronted Sajid Javid, the business secretary, over the policy at The Times CEO SummitBen Gurr/Times Newspapers Ltd

On general election night at The Times, we expected a messy result. Like David Cameron, we anticipated a hung parliament.

We didn’t know that the country had made up its mind and was about to deliver a remarkable victory for the Conservatives. The first all-Tory government in 18 years and the first sitting prime minister, in living memory, to increase his party’s share of the vote and number of parliamentary seats.

Since then, we have had our first Conservative Budget since 1996. The economy is on an upward curve, wages are increasing in real terms and employment is growing.

But doubts remain. Productivity is lower, business is grappling with the impact of a referendum on the European Union. The debate on infrastructure investment is never…